Division III Men

Marks Leads Stevens to Empire 8 Championship

from press release

HOBOKEN, N.J. – The top seeded Stevens Institute of
Technology men's lacrosse team claimed the program's first ever
Empire 8 Conference title on Saturday, May 5, with a 10-7 victory
over Ithaca College at the De Baun Athletic Complex in a matchup of
the top two teams in the Empire 8. Senior defender Matt Marks
(Cortland, N.Y.) was named the championship's Most Valuable Player
after leading Stevens with six groundballs and four caused
turnovers. The Ducks will head into the NCAA Tournament with a 16-2
overall record, matching the most wins in school history and a
seven-game winning streak.

After the Bombers (12-6) netted the game's first goal in the
opening two minutes of the game, Stevens went on a 3-0 run over the
next 6:32 to build a 3-1 advantage just over halfway through with
the first quarter and never fell behind on the scoreboard the rest
of the game.

Junior midfielder Rich Dupras (Hillsborough, N.J.) tallied the
Ducks' first score of the game unassisted two minutes after the
first Ithaca goal. Fellow junior midfielder Harrison Dorne
(Morristown, N.J.) then put Stevens in the driver's seat with
another unassisted goal just 2:30 after the Dupras score. Exactly
two minutes ticked off the clock before the third consecutive
unassisted Stevens goal was recorded by senior attack Alex
Hofrichter (Terrance Park, Ohio). Dupras finished the game with
five points on two goals and three assists, while Hofrichter later
assisted on a score.

Ithaca responded with 1:45 to go in the first quarter to make
the contest a one-goal difference, but junior midfielder Nicolas
Philippi (Mullica Hill, N.J.) staked the Ducks back to a two-goal
lead in the final seconds of the period off a feed from
Hofrichter.

Philippi then put Stevens ahead by three scores, striking first
in the second period off a pass from Dupras with 12:19 left in the
half. Philippi would post a game-high five goals in the game,
including four of the last six tallies by the Ducks.

The Bombers would fight back, however, with a 3-0 run of their
own in the second period over the final 10:39 to go into halftime
deadlocked at 5s. Ithaca netted its first goal at the 10:39 mark
and then picked up another just three minutes later. The first half
scoring closed out with just 17 seconds to go on the final score.
All three goals registered by the Bombers were assisted.

Stevens' suffocating defense showed up in the second half and
allowed just two goals to Ithaca over the final 30 minutes of play.
In the past four games for the Ducks, their opposition has only
scored six second half goals.

Philippi would net two straight man-up goals to begin the third
quarter off passes from Dupras. The first extra man chance came
with 9:42 in the third and the next happened 1:47 later, pushing
the Ducks' lead back out to two goals, 7-5.

A man-up opportunity for the Bombers brought the difference back
to one goal, 7-6, with just over five minutes left in the period
before senior attack Kevin Rose (Garden City, N.Y.) picked up his
lone point of the game on the final score of the third period off a
transition pass from sophomore long stick midfielder Tim Culloty
(Mahwah, N.J.).

Dupras put the Ducks ahead by three, 9-6, in the opening 1:20 of
the fourth to end his offensive output. Ithaca answered back with
11:07 remaining in the game, but the final tally went to Phlippi
off a pass from senior midfielder Taylor Brown (Cortland, N.Y.) to
secure the victory and first conference title for Stevens with 9:20
left in the contest.

Freshman Matthew Deiner (Millstone Twp., N.J.) picked up his
fourth straight victory and fifth of the season in 60 minutes of
action in cage. Deiner stopped six shots in the win.

That stout Stevens defense caused 11 of the 18 turnovers by
Ithaca and scooped up more groundballs, 23-19. The Ducks also
forced the Bombers to fail on five of 19 clear attempts, while
Stevens was unsuccessful once in 16 tries.

The Ducks would also take more shots than Ithaca in the contest,
37-24.

Stevens will await to see who, where and when it will play in
the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament after tomorrow
night's Selection Show. No time for the show is available at this
moment.